Wings sign Tomas Nosek to 2 year entry level deal

Nothing against him and my local team has done something similar and I hated it. Why not give the job to good ol Michigan boy ? I think the Wings are running the risk of becoming a very european dominated organisations where are - save for Dekeyser - are the upcoming localheroes stars ?

Howard dekeyser smith and maybe Sheahan can be a hero someday(not quite good enough to be labeled a star).

Also how local do you want? I mean dekeyser is but we talking USA/Canadian loca or local like in the Detroit area code???

Howard dekeyser smith and maybe Sheahan can be a hero someday(not quite good enough to be labeled a star).

Also how local do you want? I mean dekeyser is but we talking USA/Canadian loca or local like in the Detroit area code???

Detroit local I'm not saying all guys should be local because that would be almost impossible even at the AHL level but a better mix between euros and detroit area players would be nice. Like I said I'm a euro myself and I absolutely can't stand what my hometown (foreigners are getting contracts endlessly while local guys are begging for a contract....) team has become, don't want the same thing happening to the Wings

Detroit local I'm not saying all guys should be local because that would be almost impossible even at the AHL level but a better mix between euros and detroit area players would be nice. Like I said I'm a euro myself and I absolutely can't stand what my hometown (foreigners are getting contracts endlessly while local guys are begging for a contract....) team has become, don't want the same thing happening to the Wings

Pretty sure that's kind of been the norm for most teams? I mean who is the last player to be on wings that's local besides dekeyser?

That's kind of how the wings were so good they were the first to become heavily euro and Russian dominated and were ahead of everyone. Now people have caught up.

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Who cares where a person was born? They sign the best available players. It could be none of the local boys were as good.

For me and some very good friends (both male + female) this is very important, because it helps building that "us" feeling with a club. Just look at how much people are already liking Dekeyser and it will only get better as he improves. I didn't want to mention the Habs because for them it's not "doing the right thing" driven its politically driven and thats hugely different to just wanting some local heroes on your team.

Anyway I guess the michigan boys on this forum will know better how important that is for them :-)

As for non of the local boys being as good well how do you/we know if they aren't getting a chance?

all of them. None of them helped us win a Cup...i am all for signing him to develop in GR, but we have no room for another undrafted European experiment on the big club. I'd rather give the spot to Mantha.

Considering his agent said the reason he signed with us is to develop like Jurco did under Blashill I don't think you need to worry about him taking a spot on the big club.

Detroit local I'm not saying all guys should be local because that would be almost impossible even at the AHL level but a better mix between euros and detroit area players would be nice.

Maybe for the fans and community, on some emotional level. But would it give us a better team than we'd otherwise have? Would it give us a competitive advantage? I'm not trying to be a debbie downer. I just think, at this level (the AHL and NHL), that kind of thing is mostly arbitrary. At the end of the day, you're trying to put together the best team you can. Yes, there will be leanings, like a skill team favoring skill players and a big, physical team wanting big, physical players - but that's what should be happening. That's how you shape your team. You don't set a quota for local guys just for the sake of having local guys.

The thing with the Wings' Euro-love is there was a good reason for it. They saw a way to get ahead of the curve and gain a competitive advantage by exploring and exploiting avenues other organizations weren't all that interested in. That set the foundation for the next 20+ years. But now that competitive advantage is largely gone. People know gems can be found in obscure Scandinavian towns. People know skill and puck possession are paramount. For this reason and others (e.g. the rise of USA Hockey), I think we're going to see things even out a bit more in terms of our Euro-NA ratio.

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It's a win-win signing. As someone else said, all the hype that comes along with these kids is unfair. Brunner and Leino both helped the team in ways - heck, I still remember Leino spin-o-rama goal. The issue is expecting them to come in and produce like top 6 guys.

GR has lost a fair bit of talent without replacing it. Tvrdon was sent back to juniors, Frk struggled (as is expected) and who knows if Callahan, Ferraro and/or Nestrasil will be retained. Pulkkinen will be fine, but Mantha and Athanasiou are going to be in their first year of pro hockey. Could use a player to bolster the top 6 down there - get a chance to see how he transitions.

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For me and some very good friends (both male + female) this is very important, because it helps building that "us" feeling with a club. Just look at how much people are already liking Dekeyser and it will only get better as he improves. I didn't want to mention the Habs because for them it's not "doing the right thing" driven its politically driven and thats hugely different to just wanting some local heroes on your team.

Anyway I guess the michigan boys on this forum will know better how important that is for them :-)

As for non of the local boys being as good well how do you/we know if they aren't getting a chance?

The problem with the "us" feeling is it doesn't win hockey games. If the scouts say the euro is better than the michigan boy, I'll take the euro 10 times out of 10. That's how we know even if they're "not getting a chance."

As far as Dekeyser, sure it's cool he grew up a wings fan in Detroit but I don't think that's anyones reasoning for liking him. Personally I like him because he came out of college and was immediately a solid shut down defenseman in the NHL and that's not an easy jump to make. He's a good hockey player and has become an important part of this team and will be for a long time. That has nothing to do with the fact that he's from Michigan. It doesn't matter where they're from, they all play for Detroit now and that's enough of an "us" feeling for me.